Cheer up, we've got super NVQs

There are so many good and exciting things happening in the industry at the moment that I hope reading this will raise his deflated spirits.

• Having been in the industry for many years, I am glad to see a vocational qualification system based on competency. The British NVQ approach has been adopted in countries across the world.
  
• The Construction Industry Training Board backs the government strategy that full NVQs should be competency-based, and therefore can only be achieved once the candidate has had sufficient site experience. Skills cannot be properly tested in a college – there has to be practical input.
  
• A lot of work goes into developing qualifications. The CITB works with City and Guilds as well as employers to develop them, and continues to do so for those specialist trades for which there is currently no qualification.
  
• The CITB recognised the fact that there would be people who, for one reason or another, are not able to get an apprenticeship straight away. This is why the construction award (or technical certificate) was developed.
  
• To ensure the end qualification meets not only the expectations of educational establishments, but also the vital needs of the industry, the CITB works with employers and colleges on the development process. The NVQ content is signed off by employers themselves. We would encourage this joined-up thinking between the CITB, colleges and employers.
  
• In an industry with such a dispersed workforce, there needs to be a national benchmark against which all standards may be assessed. Training does need to be paid for by the industry, and to a large extent it is. The purpose of a body such as the CITB is to deliver it on the ground. It spreads the cost of training across the industry so that there is as fair a system as possible. Firms with wage bills of less than £61,000 a year do not have to pay the levy, but can still benefit from the £75m worth of grant that the CITB pays to employers who invest in their workforce through training.
  
• Any employer who takes on an apprentice also takes on a responsibility for that apprentice. Part of that responsibility is to oversee the work that their trainee does and help them record what they do in a log book, which is then sent to a college assessor. The CITB provides a grant for employers to attend a half-day programme to advise them on their role in the process. Staff in CITB area offices work with colleges and employers to provide the service.

The CITB is working very hard to encourage young people to take up a career in construction. Independent research carried out after our positive image campaign this year found that more 16-to-19-year-olds would consider a construction-related career than in previous years and there was a growing trend to view construction as an industry that offers women career choices.

The CITB is pressing hard to encourage new blood to join the industry. At the same time, employers need to offer apprenticeships that will enable talented youngsters to complete their NVQ and progress up the career ladder.